Gathered from the North

About the Book

Title: Gathered from the North

Series: Blooms of the Bitterbrush, Book 3
Author: Barbara A. Curtis
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release Date: November 18, 2025

He survived the war, but he didn’t come home whole. Hope of a ready-made family promises healing—until he learns the truth about his love’s adopted baby.

Beth Calloway has always longed for a family, but after a childhood marked by loss, she’s learned to live quietly—typing reports at the Boise Foundling Home and keeping her heart carefully tucked away. Until one snowy night, a baby is left on her doorstep. With no room at the orphanage and no one else to help, she takes the risk…never expecting the handsome wounded soldier next door to take notice.

Recently discharged from the army, Private Timothy McPhearson is a man on a mission. Haunted by his best friend’s death during WWII, he’s determined to uncover the truth—and escape the guilt that won’t let him go. Falling for his grandmother’s quiet tenant and the baby she’s sheltering isn’t part of the plan…but Beth and little Elly Rose begin to chip away at the walls he’s built.

Just as the three begin to imagine life as a family, a shattering revelation threatens to tear them apart. When the truth about baby Elly Rose comes to light—and danger closes in—Beth must fight to protect the child she’s come to love…even if it means letting go of the man who’s claimed her heart.

A heart-tugging postwar romance of second chances, found family, and love worth risking everything for.

About the Author

Barbara A. Curtis lives in Connecticut with her husband, and they have
one grown son, a blessing to their hearts. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Novel Academy.

More from Barbara

In Gathered from the North, Mrs. McPhearson’s first step in solving a problem is to sit down with a cup of tea. During the same year of 1945, another tea drinker in real life—Ruth Campbell Bigelow—was enjoying tea in her New York brownstone and experimenting with finding a flavorful blend using black tea, orange rind, and sweet spices. When she hit upon the final recipe, Constant Comment was born, along with the Bigelow Tea Company.

While flavored teas are easy to find in grocery stores, tea shops, and online now, we can be grateful for Ruth Campbell Bigelow’s days of experimentation in her own kitchen, as Constant Comment was the first specialty tea in the United States. And where did the name come from? When she shared her new tea with others, one reported that this tea “caused nothing but constant comments.”

I hope you enjoy Gathered from the North—perhaps over a cup of tea, specialty blend or otherwise.

Blessings!

Barbara

Devoted To Hope's Review of Gathered from the North

Gathered from the North felt like stepping forward without knowing whether the ground would hold. Choosing obedience before clarity and trusting that God was already holding what I could not yet see. This story understands the sacred tension of faith lived in real time: seeking His guidance, listening for His voice, and taking the next step knowing He is already there, carried not by answers but by grace. Every page whispered the same steady truth to my heart: God is sovereign even here, especially here, and His goodness is never dependent on our understanding.

So many times, God’s work begins long before we recognize it, His hand moving quietly through loss, waiting, and unanswered questions. Reading Beth Calloway’s story, I recognized her posture of trust. Her longing for family. Her willingness to say yes when embracing fear and saying no would have been easier. Her obedience in the small, unseen moments felt deeply familiar. When the words appeared on the page, “God had chosen her porch for Elly Rose to be left on,” my heart paused. That sentence alone reframed everything. Nothing here is accidental. Not timing. Not sorrow. Not love. Not the plans He has for us.

Timothy McPhearson’s journey carries the heavy silence of war and the ache of unresolved grief. His struggle is not about restoring strength but surrendering control. His whispered prayer, “God? Would You fill my soul?” felt like a holy breaking point. It is the kind of prayer offered when there are no polished words left, only need. His path is one of reckoning and healing, shaped by memorized Scripture and a faith embraced and maturing, as the Lord gently draws him out of isolation, closer to Him, and into belonging.

Faith breathes naturally through this story. Spoken aloud, prayed in uncertainty, and lived out in daily choices. Simple blessings carry eternal weight: “May God’s grace walk with you.” A prayer offered without flourish becomes a lifeline: “Yes, Lord, please walk with us. Through this day and every day.” Scripture rises as an anchor, especially in the beautiful passage that echoes through the pages: “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness… For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”
This book understands longing. It honors hunger of the soul. And it testifies, again and again, to the faithfulness of the one true, Almighty God who fills both.

Elly Rose embodies the heart of the Gospel within this story: rescued, cherished, placed intentionally into loving arms. The blessing spoken over her life felt like a benediction over the entire narrative: “May God bless you, dear child… the Lord has rescued you and placed you in loving arms.” It is impossible to read those words and not think of our own rescue and adoption into God’s family for eternity.

The symbolism of the bitterbrush is one of the most tender expressions of faith I have encountered in fiction. A dormant branch. A promise not yet seen. Beauty that waits on God’s timing. It stands as a quiet testimony that God’s faithfulness does not bloom on demand, but it always blooms. Always.

This story does not rush healing, does not soften truth, and does not shy away from naming God’s sovereignty in every place. Characters who trust honestly. Scripture, prayer, and hope woven into an amazing narrative that is reverent and deeply human. Through every chapter, the book affirms that God is never improvising. He is intentionally gathering His children long before we understand what He is building.

Gathered from the North is a treasure. Perfect for readers who long for clearly Christian historical romance rooted in Scripture, stories of found family and second chances, postwar healing shaped by surrender, and novels that reflect the quiet courage of trusting God’s faithfulness while His plan is still unfolding in real time.

Theme Scripture Isaiah 43:5-6 “Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth.”

This memorable novel leaves the reader resting in the faithfulness of our sovereign God who gathers His children from the north, guiding every step with purpose and grace.

I received a digital ARC from Celebrate Lit Publicity Group. Additionally, I purchased the audiobook! I am not required to write a positive review nor paid to do so. This is my honest and unbiased review. My thoughts and opinions expressed in this book review are my own.